So where we all at 3 games in?

Wins?

  • 12 wins!

    Votes: 2 2.4%

  • 9 to 11

    Votes: 9 10.7%

  • 7 to 8

    Votes: 58 69.0%

  • 5 to 6

    Votes: 25 29.8%

  • ...

    Votes: 2 2.4%
  • Total voters
    84
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A_Slab_of_Bacon

A_Slab_of_Bacon

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I was nervous going into this season, more than usual. This weekend Cal got blown up by San Diego State.

OL seems very wobbly at best. Even on run plays we've seen them pushed into the backfield... It feels like this team has a LONG ways to go to be competitive and at Cal they were very much not competitive / everyone took turns shooting themselves in the foot.

Drake has shown promise, but he's young. Taylor is hurt.

Just 3 games in I'm less optimistic than I was at the start. Am I the only one?
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I was nervous going into this season, more than usual. This weekend Cal got blown up by San Diego State.

OL seems very wobbly at best. Even on run plays we've seen them pushed into the backfield... It feels like this team has a LONG ways to go to be competitive and at Cal they were very much not competitive / everyone took turns shooting themselves in the foot.

Drake has shown promise, but he's young. Taylor is hurt.

Just 3 games in I'm less optimistic than I was at the start. Am I the only one?
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I’m all over the place, as signified by initial for all options, which I amended to 7/8.
 

With the Buffalo game a lot closer than it should of been, and Cal looking like a bad loss, the current evidence doesn't look good. But I see a few more wins, some good and bad surprises ahead. 6 wins. Not going to have a schedule line up this favorably for a while. Too bad
 




Enough talent that we should be 3-0 and have a chance at 8+ wins.

Enough issues from the O-line, the Receivers and DBs, and coaching, that 6/7 wins won't surprise me.
 
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We knew before the season that there were going to be growing pains due to inexperience (DC included). I was thinking 7 season wins but maybe 6 now.
 




Fleck has some of the worst average recruiting classes in the Big 10. We should expect to end up as one of the worst in the big 10.

5 wins.
 

9 would be awesome, but I think a more realistic goal is 8. I don't think Cal counts as the "lose one you shouldn't have" game that Fleck has every year. That was just a plain got outcoached.

We still have to take care of business at home. That's the biggest thing. Two of our road trips are to games that we'd lose anyway. Granted we also have to go to Iowa, that's always tough. Going to NW should be a win, we assume.
 

My first reaction was to say 5-6 wins. The Cal result is a bit “scary”.

Then I recalled how bad our non-conference performance was the year they finished #10, so I’m still hoping for 8 wins. At this point it’s a crap shoot and when it comes to that, I’m the guy.
 

If we are counting bowl games I still think 9 is possible. 7 winnable conference games 2 massive longshots. Win 6 of the 7 winnable games and a bowl and that gets you to 9 wins.

Rutgers game will give us a really good feel for how things are likely to go. How does the team respond to the loss against Cal?
 



Last week's loss was frustrating and Cal's result yesterday is certainly concerning. However, looking back, I feel there were some key mistakes that can be cleaned up as the season goes on.

Scale back Koi to defense, stop the trick play calling that got you in trouble and look for Drake to improve with more game experience. Plus Taylor will be back eventually.

There's a lot of football left to play and winnable games ahead. I can see a 7 or 8 win season still possible.
 

Tech Machine said:
My first reaction was to say 5-6 wins. The Cal result is a bit “scary”.

Then I recalled how bad our non-conference performance was the year they finished #10, so I’m still hoping for 8 wins. At this point it’s a crap shoot and when it comes to that, I’m the guy.
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I also find the Cal result scary. The Cal offense that put 27 points on us got shut out this week by San Diego State; and San Diego State scored 34 points against a Cal team that held the Gophers to 14. Is SDSU clearly a better team that the Gophers (better coached for game day, anyway)? How many games would we expect San Diego State to win playing the Gophers’ B1G schedule? Food for thought.
 
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UNC gave up like 73 vs little sisters of the poor last year after we lost to them at home. I'll save my crisis response for for an in conference beating.

We've watched this team have this very type of start almost every year since PJ got here, and we've watched almost every position group improve substantially as the year progressed. There's zero reason to chicken little yet.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I was nervous going into this season, more than usual. This weekend Cal got blown up by San Diego State.

OL seems very wobbly at best. Even on run plays we've seen them pushed into the backfield... It feels like this team has a LONG ways to go to be competitive and at Cal they were very much not competitive / everyone took turns shooting themselves in the foot.

Drake has shown promise, but he's young. Taylor is hurt.

Just 3 games in I'm less optimistic than I was at the start. Am I the only one?
Click to expand...
I have been at the Buffalo and Cal games. Lots of improvement needed. I think that Lindsey is limited. He's not a good enough athlete to escape the pass rush and make a play running, and I think he needs improved pocket presence. We also need some receivers who can get open and then catch the ball. Go Gophers!
 

8 wins feels likely with how soft our schedule is. Lose the Oregon+Ohio State games and one more that we want back. Nine wins is definitely still possible, as is seven. Anything below that would be a big disappointment
 

ergopher said:
8 wins feels likely with how soft our schedule is. Lose the Oregon+Ohio State games and one more that we want back. Nine wins is definitely still possible, as is seven. Anything below that would be a big disappointment
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Next week (Rutgers), a middling B1G team, will tell us a lot. If we lose that one, especially if it is another “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” game like Cal, visions of 8 wins will fit PJ’s “delusional thinking” mantra this year.
 



Last season seemed to turn for Brosmer and the team on the long pass completion and remarkable last second, first half field goal in the Michigan game. 2025 needs a spark.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
Collins the new DC decided to use a soft zone against a good qb and he never adjusted.
SDSU’s corners played physcial man and to me that was the difference. Last year’s team had two really good corners.
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This is simply not accurate
The gophers played man to man off and on all night. They just didn’t play it very well.
 



My preseason prognostication was 8-4 but I was secretly hoping for a 2019 style season where things go right for a 9-10 win season.

All that assumed a relatively easy win at Cal. Now more of those 50/50 games or even 60/40 games look like losses to me.

You should never overreact to a single bad loss. But that is YOU. I am different, and special. This Cal loss has me reacting to lower my expectations from 8 wins to 6 - and another moral victory bowl in a place like Detroit, if the Gophers qualify for a bowl at all.
 

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